Turmoil in the Upper Realm

Ideals were lofty, but reality was harsh. He had chosen to dig a hole first partly because he wanted to sort through the ten thousand Daos. He had gained insights into quite a few Daos, but his understanding of many had merely scratched the surface. He needed to organize them systematically! Opening a Dao was by no means easy. In other words, at this moment, Su Yu merely wanted to cross the river by feeling the stones and make a simple attempt. Fusing the ten thousand Daos was itself an immense challenge. For now, Su Yu only wanted to make a beginning. He could perfect it later! The Time Master's Time Book, on the other hand, had been refined gradually from an embryonic form with the aim of achieving everything in a single stroke. Once the Time Dao was successfully opened, she might have instantly possessed strength on par with the Master of the Dead Spirit Dao. This was the difference between Su Yu and the Time Master. Of course, all Daos returned to one source; in essence, they were the same. However, when Su Yu tried to perfect his Dao down the line, the difficulty would likely be even greater. Because he would have already opened his Dao, there would be little opportunity for course correction, leaving him with very little margin for error. "The Time Master..." At that moment, Su Yu thought of the Time Book again. Should he devour the Time Book? Was the Time Master actually dead or alive? If she was not dead, why hadn't she used the Time Book to open a Dao in the end? Or had she simply lacked the chance, having run out of time? This was something Su Yu had not figured out yet. The more he analyzed it, the more he felt the Time Master had certainly wanted to open a sky as well. But why hadn't she taken the risk to try? "If it were me, when push came to shove, who cares if it's perfect or not? I'd open the Dao first to test the waters. Maybe there'd be a chance to turn the tables!" The Time Book had been cast back into the myriad realms—had the Time Master done that herself? Had she truly run out of opportunities to open a Dao at the very end, or could she simply not open one behind the Heavenly Gate? Was there some fundamental flaw? Countless thoughts surfaced in his mind. Opening a Dao was certainly not simple. Su Yu might fail to fuse the ten thousand Daos, and the Dao he forged might end up being merely a rudimentary path. Yet that was enough—the first step was always the hardest! If he did not take the first step, how could he keep going? "Lan Tian..." Su Yu called out, then quickly continued, "Senior Hongmeng, call my teacher and the others over. Also, on Hetu's side, there are some dead spirits who were students of King Wen. Mansion Master Wan..." Su Yu addressed them one by one, saying solemnly, "Over the next few days, everyone organize what you've learned. As for me, I need to study the fusion of Daos. Let's set a limit of half a month! "In half a month, things in the Human Realm should be largely settled, and ten days should be enough to dig the passage... Within a month, we'll sink the entire Tianyuan Realm into the dead spirit realm and prepare to open the Dao!" At this moment, the cluster of glowing motes turned solemn. Doubao stopped chasing Hongmeng around to play. King Dazhou manifested his phantom silhouette, looked at Su Yu, and sighed softly. "Opening a Dao right now... wouldn't that be terribly dangerous?" Su Yu gave a faint smile. "Dangerous? A little, perhaps. The greatest danger is that fusing the ten thousand Daos fails and I cannot carve out the power of a Great Dao from the chaos... In that case, the civilization chronicle might be destroyed, and I... might truly be stuck at the Sun and Moon Realm!" That was likely the worst-case scenario. The severing of his Dao! Everything Su Yu had invested in the civilization chronicle would go down the drain. To him, that would be a catastrophic loss. He had poured far too much into the civilization chronicle. Numerous carriers, a mountain of treasures, and countless corpses—he had even incorporated the intact corpse of a Rule Master, not to mention those of Heavenly Kings and Heavenly Venerables! Su Yu had acquired innumerable treasures over the past few years, and most had been merged into the civilization chronicle. If the civilization chronicle was destroyed, his entire foundation would truly be wiped out! If it was ruined, could Su Yu start over? Even if he theoretically could, would he ever have the chance? Where on earth would he find another Rule Master's corpse? Where could he go to slaughter so many powerhouses again? Hearing Su Yu's words, King Dazhou sighed. "Why not... wait a little longer?" Su Yu chuckled. "Wait for what? That's probably what the Time Master thought back then—perfect it first, then open the Dao! The crux is... where would you get so many chances, so much time to wait? Anything can happen. Maybe I'll die tomorrow!" Time waited for no one! Wait? If he waited for perfection, Su Yu would have to wait until everyone thoroughly cracked all the patterns of fusing the Daos, and then wait until every pseudo-Dao grew to the Harmony Realm, or ideally to the level of a Rule Master's Dao. At that point, he would already be exceptionally powerful, and when he opened his Dao and saw it formed, he might instantly become a powerhouse on the level of the Lord of Dead Spirits. That was presumably the Time Master's philosophy. Yet an accident had befallen her. What a pity! When the Human Sovereign opened a sky, he had also waited, waiting to slowly perfect it, waiting to slowly open it... and an accident had befallen him as well! Su Yu felt that having mishaps during the creation of a sky was entirely natural. This was opening a sky—a genuine Genesis—and success was never going to come easily! Besides... what is my core Dao? Even now, Su Yu had not finalized the philosophical core of his Dao. For the Human Sovereign, it was responsibility. For the Lord of Dead Spirits, it was the Dao of Dead Spirits. So what was Su Yu's core Dao philosophy? This was another thing he had to sort through. It was likely pivotal, the very nucleus of the entire Dao. To fuse the ten thousand Daos, there had to be a primary Dao to anchor them and serve as a foundation. Without even establishing a foundation, how could he open a Dao? Su Yu's urgency to seize the day left King Dazhou utterly speechless. He did not know how to advise Su Yu. Su Yu's preparations were far too rudimentary. Even the Human Sovereign had spent countless eras preparing, whereas Su Yu... was moving with alarming abruptness! It was too fast! Now truly was not the ideal time. Of course, for everyone else, observing the opening of a Dao earlier was better; it would offer everyone a chance to improve. With countless thoughts swirling, King Dazhou's phantom form wavered slightly as it drifted. Looking at Su Yu once more, he asked, "Back then, when His Majesty the Human Sovereign opened his Dao, though I did not witness it with my own eyes, Emperor Yu has mentioned a bit about it over these past few days. Will Emperor Yu's Dao also connect to the River of Time to draw power, just as the Human Sovereign's did? Was digging that opening meant for this?" Su Yu shook his head. "No, I won't connect to the River of Time for now. The power of the River of Time is too immense. When I open my Dao, I only want to open a small path! Unlike the Human Sovereign and his peers, who required vast amounts of energy and rule power to sustain them, the power I need right now isn't much. It only needs to be enough to elevate me to a Heavenly King—it doesn't even matter if I don't reach Heavenly Venerable... At that scale, ambient energy from the outside world will be sufficient for me to open the Dao! "The power of the River of Time is too violent; it would easily wash away the small path I open! "Later on, when I want to strengthen my Great Dao, I might need to siphon massive quantities of rule power to perfect it... but clearly, not right now!" King Dazhou nodded. That was true enough. Su Yu's demands were not excessively high; he merely wanted to take the initial step and did not need immense energy support for the time being. "Then... what Great Dao will Emperor Yu use as the foundation?" He asked once more. Was Su Yu prepared for this? With a conflicted expression, he added, "I... want to ask one more thing. In the Dao Origin Land, did Emperor Yu sense something? Did... did you..." Su Yu shot him a look and sneered. "You mean the Human Sovereign's Dao? You really do know quite a bit! You're a thoroughgoing old fraud! I suspect your whole purpose is picking a successor for the Human Sovereign! What 'fire spreader' nonsense—you old fellow were just picking a disciple or successor for the Human Sovereign! But you old fraud are so weak, are you sure you're even qualified?" Su Yu snorted. "Old fraud, I strongly suspect you're hiding something, holding back some trump card! I said Baizhan is colluding with the Archaic Giant race. If the Archaic Giant race is the bloodline left behind by the Human Ancestor... could it be that you, old fraud, are hiding the Human Sovereign's bloodline?" Su Yu chuckled coldly. "There are plenty of fascinating things. The myriad races of the heavens... in essence, this might still just be an internal war of the human race! They say the Immortals, Demons, and Gods all originated from humans, and even the Archaic Giant race as well... So whose descendants were the Immortals, Demons, and Gods? Now there's the Prison King's lineage. Many years from now, these folks who call themselves the Sacred race might also become recognized as one of the myriad races of the heavens... "At that time, people will say, 'Rumor has it, legend says the Sacred race was once an offshoot of humanity...' Of course, it will only be a legend, and later generations will scoff at it: 'How could that be? We're humans—what could the Sacred race possibly have to do with us?'" Su Yu sighed with feeling. "These heavens are complicated beyond imagination! King Dazhou, you've seen much and experienced much. I'd bet you still have cards up your sleeve that you haven't shown... Forget it, save them for the Human Sovereign's successor!" Su Yu curled his lip. "When I went to the Human Sovereign's Dao, it actually tried to fuse with me of its own accord... Sorry, not interested! You probably know a thing or two about that Dao yourself. Is that a path meant for a normal person to walk? That's a Dao for being a beast of burden! What the Human Sovereign had in mind was being a sovereign, not being me!" "..." King Dazhou's phantom form shuddered, fraught with shock and agitation. His voice trembled. "You mean to say... the Human Sovereign's Dao chose you, and you... rejected it?" "That's right!" "..." "Why?!" King Dazhou roared, unable to hold back any longer. He had known nothing about Su Yu rejecting the Great Dao; Su Yu had never mentioned it. King Dazhou was beside himself with fury. "Why would you make such a choice?! The Dao opened by His Majesty the Human Sovereign has no traps! His Majesty is the powerhouse in this world who cared most about the human race! He was stronger and far more responsible than King Wen and King Wu! "He wouldn't be like King Wen and the others, abandoning humanity for selfish ends, choosing to leave and letting the Human Sovereign shoulder the world-ending catastrophe alone! "They enjoyed the honors of humanity and the mythic status bestowed upon them, yet in their eyes... private interest far outweighed the public good! "Be it King Wen or King Wu, they cared more about themselves! "Only His Majesty wore himself out for the sake of the human race! He suppressed internal strife and resolved external threats. Given another few tens of thousands of years, he could have completely accommodated the myriad races and turned these entire heavens into human domain!" At this moment, King Dazhou possessed none of his usual composure. Perhaps the destruction of his physical body and the trauma to his Great Dao had frayed his calm! Or perhaps it was Su Yu's dismissive, scornful attitude that drove him mad! Why would you reject it? Was the Human Sovereign's Dao not good enough? "His Majesty is the true Sovereign! Everything he did was for the human race... unlike the human lords of today, every one of them driven by selfish motives, every one of them seeking personal gain..." King Dazhou fumed, "Since you could inherit it, why didn't you? After inheriting it, even if you couldn't merge with it immediately, you could have swiftly become a Heavenly King, a Heavenly Venerable, or even reached Baizhan's level or surpassed him, becoming an entity truly capable of battling Rule Masters!" Why on earth had Su Yu refused? Su Yu, however, remained entirely calm. Around them, the others, who had been about to disperse, were now trembling with trepidation. They kept quiet and remained silent on the sidelines. Su Yu... seemed to be clashing with King Dazhou! Or rather, this was the first time King Dazhou had actively picked a bone with Su Yu. Prior to this, King Dazhou had always been the most patient and tolerant. Even when Su Yu deliberately provoked him, he would remain composed and defuse the situation with ease. Su Yu watched him, waiting until his roar subsided, before speaking calmly: "So what? I told you, I am not the Human Sovereign! Do you know what the core of the Human Sovereign's Dao is? Perhaps you do! But... do you think I, Su Yu, am that kind of person?" Su Yu looked in all directions and spoke slowly: "That is precisely why there is only one Human Sovereign! That is why King Wen is merely King Wen, and King Wu is merely King Wu! In that era, to suppress talents like King Wen and compel their genuine admiration, the Human Sovereign was naturally extraordinary. No one would ever deny that!" It had been an era teeming with monstrous geniuses! An era where the Four Kings shone across the myriad realms! Yet in that era, there was only one shared sovereign: the Human Sovereign! No one could deny his greatness or his achievements, but... not everyone wanted to become the Human Sovereign! Su Yu certainly did not! Su Yu stared coldly at King Dazhou and said flatly, "The Human Sovereign shouldered heavy burdens, choosing hardship for himself so others could have happiness... He is a saint. Maybe he had his own selfish motives, maybe he had his own calculations... but in my eyes, he truly qualifies as a saint! "However... King Dazhou, not everyone wants to be a saint! "Being a saint is too exhausting, too bitter, too difficult! "I'd rather be free and unconstrained like King Wen and the others—coming when I please, leaving when I wish, killing whoever I want to kill, protecting whoever I want to protect... I don't want this human race, this world, to become my shackles! "Baizhan returned, and I stepped back, unwilling to contest him. Can you still not see why?" Su Yu's voice rang out powerfully, reverberating across the surroundings. "If I truly wanted to become a second Human Sovereign, I wouldn't have evacuated from the Human Realm right now! I've said it before: as for who I, Su Yu, will protect and safeguard, only those I want to guard and protect are my responsibility! Su Yu shouted loudly, "A person like Baizhan—you expect me to protect him? He isn't wrong, maybe he's right, but he abandoned us! Why should I help him now? When he had the power, he chose forbearance for the sake of some grander victory. Why should I take responsibility for him? "Tolerance... is relative! Back then, when Zhou Mingren and the others made life difficult for me in the academy, would you expect me to forgive them, show tolerance, and laugh off our grievances? Is that even possible? "King Jintian counts as human, too. He didn't betray humanity—at least not the humanity in your eyes. But he wronged my teacher Liu Wenyan and the others. Am I supposed to show him tolerance? "People like Marquis Anying serving Baizhan weren't in the wrong. According to tolerance, I shouldn't have abandoned them when leaving, because they're humans. But... I was unhappy! Why should I take them with me?" Su Yu barked, "So you see, I'm simply not that kind of person! When the Human Sovereign's Dao manifested that once because of a momentary softening of my heart, offering itself for me to inherit... I let it go. Afterward, it never appeared again. Do you know why? "Because the Dao itself knew that was merely a fleeting sense of responsibility... not something enduring! "The Dao wanted me to shoulder responsibility for this entire human race... What a joke!" Su Yu said coldly, "I am no saint! I've said it many times! I am merely one among the teeming myriad living beings. Now that I have power, I'm willing to shoulder a certain degree of responsibility, and I'm willing to help those who once helped me! I'm willing to aid some pitiful people out of compassion, not out of duty! It is not my duty, nor do I wish to bear such a duty! "I have no need for burdens forced upon me. Zhou Tian, do you understand when I put it this way?" This was the first time he had addressed him directly by his true name! I am Su Yu. I am neither a second Human Sovereign nor the Human Sovereign's successor. I have my own thoughts, and I do not want this sense of responsibility forced upon me. "Perhaps one day I might change, but... not now!" Su Yu regained his calm. "If you think this is unacceptable, then get lost right now! You surely still have some hidden cards, so go carry them out yourself! All I need is a band of like-minded companions: when I want to kill, kill alongside me! When I want to drink, drink with me! When I want to wipe out the myriad races, campaign across the myriad realms with me! "Acting as my heart desires, speaking my mind, watching the rise and fall of winds and clouds! "If one day I find this human race sickening, let them fend for themselves—why should I care? "If one day the human race refuses to listen to me, am I supposed to shamelessly fawn over them? "Am I supposed to beg on my knees, pleading with them to lend a hand, to obey, so we can all revive humanity together?" Su Yu sneered. "Back then, the Martial Emperor asked me why I didn't beg him... Beg him for what? Do you know what I told him? I said I would rather beg foreign races than beg humans! "Just like Baizhan today. Could I throw my lot in with him? Perhaps I could, but... on what grounds?! "The Martial Emperor might have thought that if I begged him, satisfying his pride and venting his spite, he might actually have been willing to help humanity. But... on what grounds?! "The Human Sovereign might have done such a thing, because in his eyes, humanity was his responsibility; he could swallow his pride and beg such people for humanity's sake... But I cannot!" Su Yu grew thoroughly calm. "Zhou Tian, if you don't want to follow me, get lost! Do whatever you want! If you think Baizhan is your ideal candidate, get lost early and go defect to him. I won't stop you!" King Dazhou's aura fluctuated wildly. After a long silence, he spoke almost through gritted teeth, "That is not what I meant... I just... I just don't understand! The opportunity was right before your eyes! His Majesty the Human Sovereign favored you! If you open your own Dao, are you guaranteed to surpass His Majesty? Why... why reject it? Just because you don't want to shoulder this responsibility? "You could also have waited until your Dao was perfected before opening it, or finding a successor..." Su Yu scoffed. "Piss off! Do you take me for an idiot? I may be young, but I'm not stupid! The Human Sovereign's Dao is only half-opened! Once I merged into it, if I wanted to grow stronger, I would have had to perfect that Dao. In the process of perfecting it, my entire being would merge into it... and its core would gradually become one with me! "I can abandon the Brush Dao whenever I want, but could I extricate myself from the Human Sovereign's Dao whenever I wished? "What a load of rubbish! I even suspect the Human Sovereign deliberately opened it halfway and dumped it there, just waiting for the next sucker to take over! "It's just like Doubao's mental suggestion, except the Human Sovereign is millions of times stronger than Doubao. Given my strength and will, once I merged with it, do you think I'd ever have a chance to break free? "Don't take me for a fool!" King Dazhou felt utterly exhausted. "It's not being a fool. Even if you couldn't abandon it, His Majesty the Human Sovereign's Dao is one in ten million, destined to make one a peerless powerhouse." Su Yu laughed. "Then I'd rather be weaker. As long as I'm happy, that's enough! In my view, a Rule Master walking the Dao of Responsibility can't compare to a Soaring realm cultivator doing whatever he pleases! Like it or not, that's how it is, because... that's what I want!" "..." Fuck! There was no arguing with that. Su Yu said it was what he wanted. If he didn't want overwhelming power, what could anyone do? King Dazhou wished he could simply die on the spot. Breaking down, he cried, "But... in a hundred thousand years, you are the first! Why... why must you do this? There might never be another person who can inherit His Majesty's Dao..." Su Yu chuckled. "Then just pretend I don't exist and wait for the next one." "It's not that... there won't be another one!" Despairing and broken, King Dazhou was almost driven insane with rage. "If there were another, do you think I'd waste so much breath on you?!" "So you know it's a waste of breath! Then don't wait. Wait for the Human Sovereign to come back and finish opening it himself." Fuck your ancestors! If I could wait until the Human Sovereign returned, why the hell would I put up with your bullshit?! King Dazhou was exhausted in mind and wounded at heart. He let out an exceedingly aggrieved voice: "I truly don't understand what is so bad about His Majesty's Dao... And if you really weren't going to inherit it, you shouldn't have mentioned it just now! Saying you could inherit it, only to refuse—aren't you just toying with me?!" Had Su Yu said nothing, he would not have broken down. To announce it, only to reject it—that was the cruelest form of torture. Waiting for a hundred thousand years without finding a single inheritor, his century-millennium hope had long turned to despair. He had resigned himself to it and didn't care all that much anymore. Just now, all he wanted to ask was whether Su Yu had felt any traces left behind by the Human Sovereign within his Dao. His old master had been gone for so long, yet... this brute Su Yu suddenly tells him, *Oh, I could inherit the Dao, but I chose not to.* What kind of bastard does that?! King Dazhou was truly about to lose his mind. From hope to despair, he had grown accustomed to it. Yet that had been a gradual shift over a hundred thousand years. Just one second ago, Su Yu suddenly gave him hope—boundless hope—and the very next second, Su Yu dealt him a crushing blow, plunging him into despair. The instantaneous shift caused King Dazhou's mental state to shatter completely. Su Yu was not human! Inhuman scum! Vile beast! I should have slapped you bastard to death back then! You're infuriating! He howled in near-madness. Around them, Hongmeng and the others kept their distance. Had King Dazhou been driven mad by Su Yu's games? Terrifying! To kill the person and condemn the heart—Su Yu had blown up King Dazhou's physical body, and now he was destroying his very will. Truly ruthless. "Old Zhou..." King Daqin and the others called out, trying to console him. "Don't be so furious. Let's talk nicely. What's the matter? If he doesn't want to inherit it, so be it. What's the big deal..." "Shut your mouth!" King Dazhou roared, "Shut up, do you hear me?! You don't know shit! You idiot, I was actually counting on you to inherit it, and it turns out you're just a blockhead, a useless waste! If you're so capable, why don't you go inherit it?! I played your underling for hundreds of years just hoping you'd be reliable, hoping you'd sacrifice more for humanity, hoping you'd be selfless, hoping you would become this generation's Human Lord and gain His Majesty the Human Sovereign's recognition... You threw in the towel halfway, you bastard, I'll beat you to death! "I was afraid you'd end up like the other human lords, so I didn't even reveal my identity! I guarded you in silence, never pressuring you, never bossing you around, content to play the supporting role so you could grow in peace, and you couldn't even become the Human Lord... I... I'm going to kill you!" Rumble! King Dazhou went completely wild. Transforming into a sphere of light, he charged straight at King Daqin! Su Yu froze for a moment. Suddenly, he wanted to laugh! King Daqin... Indeed, King Daqin was a very special existence. In this era, no old fossils had meddled in his affairs. He was, in a sense, a Human Lord groomed in secret by King Dazhou, but King Daqin had failed to subdue everyone. Yet King Daqin had truly sacrificed a tremendous amount for the human race and possessed a deep sense of responsibility. He did not dabble in internal factions; his focus was entirely outward. He had guarded the Eastern Rift Valley for centuries while other Eternals schemed against each other; King Daqin's entire heart had been set on resisting the major races... He had not suffered interference from any ancient relics! It could be said that King Daqin was unlike any of the previous nine generations of human lords. And in the end... he failed to become the Human Lord. King Dazhou had wished for King Daqin to develop freely. Perhaps... perhaps King Dazhou knew what the Human Sovereign's Dao entailed—or rather, he certainly knew—and the ideal candidate in his heart had probably been King Daqin. He had granted King Daqin the utmost freedom while subtly influencing him, guiding him not to overthink things and simply protect humanity. Now, Su Yu refused, and King Dazhou was helpless against Su Yu. When King Daqin chimed in out of nowhere, how could King Dazhou not lose his mind? Rumble! A battle erupted. King Daqin was thoroughly annoyed: "That's enough! If you keep at it, I'm hitting back!" "Come on, then! Beat me to death!" "Qin Guang, you dog, bring it on! I've put up with you for far too long!" King Dazhou was beside himself with rage. "Hit me, then! When you were young and practicing martial arts, how many savior tropes did I arrange for you just to make you champion the weak against the strong? To spark your sense of responsibility, to make you plead for the common folk, I had you rescue damsels in distress, uphold justice, and raise a rebel force to overthrow tyrannical dynasties! What the fuck do you even know?! "Did you really think you just stumbled on money on the road? That you just dug around randomly and unearthed a mountain of gold so you could recruit troops and buy horses?! "I was the one who buried that mountain of gold! "Did you really think everyone just naturally wanted to follow you? I made them all get lost, disoriented and wandering around until they ran into you, joining you to conquer the realm... just so you'd have more comrades-in-arms! "I raised you by hand, terrified that you'd turn rebellious like that bastard Yue Gang if you felt someone was meddling. I never told you a word, never showed the slightest trace, exhausting myself to conceal my existence... "In battle, wasn't it always me finding opportunities for you to score major victories and win hearts?! And in the end, you useless bastard, you accomplished nothing! I might as well kill you!" "..." King Dazhou roared incessantly, incandescent with rage. As for King Daqin, after freezing in surprise, he immediately cursed back: "Fine! I always wondered why my life went so smoothly and I barely faced real hardship—why I won every battle even when targeted by the myriad races! So it was all your doing, you bastard! No wonder I never liked using my brain—it was all because of you! Let me bash you to death first!" "..." Rumble! The two of them truly began brawling now, two spheres of light tangling and clashing furiously! King Dazhou felt King Daqin had let him down, while King Daqin felt that if this old bastard hadn't been secretly helping him and allowing him to endure more hardship, he might be far smarter today. In any case, they just fought! Meanwhile, Su Yu quietly recorded the entire spectacle with a chuckle. Entertaining! Go ahead and fight; I can't be bothered with you. Watching for a while and seeing that King Daqin was at a disadvantage, King Daxia suddenly snorted, "Am I not smarter than Old Qin? No wonder I always lost to him—turns out you old bastard rigged the whole thing... I'll beat you to death!" Boom! He joined the fray, helping King Daqin beat up King Dazhou. ... Su Yu could not be bothered to care. King Dazhou's sudden outburst was likely because he had endured for too long, and having reached his absolute limit, he had finally erupted! Could his comprehension of the Great Dao have deepened? The last time he merged Daos was also when he could bear it no longer and exploded. Was King Dazhou doing this to better comprehend his Dao? Whatever! It was rare to see King Dazhou go berserk. He had always acted like a scheming old bastard, so seeing him throw a temper tantrum today was quite refreshing. As for the fire being ignited by himself... what did that have to do with him? He wasn't the one fighting! These fellows had all been reduced to spheres of light yet could still brawl, which wasn't half bad. Their condition seemed decent enough. Su Yu still had work to do and had no time to watch for long. After recording a little more, he said casually, "King Dazhou, I won't inherit that Dao. Even though it kept leaping out last time, practically begging me to inherit it on the spot... I refuse to take it! King Daqin has been manipulated in secret by you for so many years; manipulate him for a few more years and maybe he'll be qualified enough to inherit it... Spare the rod, spoil the child—a good beating builds character!" "..." "Ahhh!" King Dazhou's crazed roar echoed. Ignoring him, Su Yu, flanked by Old Wan and Lan Tian, flew toward the outside of the realm with beaming smiles. Go on, fight! Wan Tiansheng chuckled via voice transmission, "Why must you provoke him?" "The old fellow hides too much. Look, he knew about the Human Sovereign's Dao, didn't he? But he never told me, probably thinking I wasn't qualified to inherit it... Heh, I'll infuriate that old bastard! I'm qualified, but I don't want it. What he treats as a treasure, I treat as trash—it drove him through the roof!" What twisted humor! Wan Tiansheng was at a loss for words. Su Yu really had incensed King Dazhou to no small degree this time. Su Yu added, "He might still have another card up his sleeve. Leave him be; let him expose himself on his own! At least the old fellow finally showed some of his hand today! Let's first go study the fusion of the ten thousand Daos, and in a few days, we'll check who wants to leave with us." Lan Tian chuckled via voice transmission, "Why don't we play a huge prank? After we evacuate everyone, I'll just leave him tens of thousands of clones..." "..." Inhuman! Su Yu bared his teeth. "Be a decent person! If Baizhan sees tens of thousands of people left and then realizes they're all you... heh, I'm afraid he'd burst from fury. Why bother?" Then again, it sounded hilarious! Su Yu suddenly grinned. "Disgusting him wouldn't be bad either. How about this: leave an imperial palace for him, and Lan Tian, you transform into several hundred beauties to keep him company?" "..." Lan Tian glanced at Su Yu, while Wan Tiansheng's head throbbed so hard he wished he could flee on the spot. This... was too vicious. Su Yu continued, "He might realize it, though. Baizhan may have opened the Heavenly Gate as well, or even if he hasn't, he probably possesses similar means! How about this: we find a way to conceal ourselves, take proper precautions... and also create some handsome men to seduce Marquis Yunshui and the others..." *Be a decent human being, please!* Wan Tiansheng hastily changed the subject: "Isn't the timeframe a bit too tight? Opening a Dao so quickly, I'm worried the Dao you forge will have too many flaws! It might even collapse!" Su Yu nodded. "That's a possibility, but... it's still worth trying, and I can perfect it later. If it were the ancient era, opening a Dao like this would probably result in a Rule Master spotting the flaws at a glance and snapping my Great Dao with a single slap... But right now, aren't those figures absent?" Su Yu chuckled, "The old fellows left today are just the leftovers. Barely any of them will be able to see through it!" To dare propose opening a Dao at this juncture, Su Yu had weighed the pros and cons. "Let's find some people first to clarify the theories behind the fusion of Daos..." Su Yu didn't dwell on it further. If he truly kept waiting to open his Dao, who knew how many years it would take! "Besides, if I don't open a Dao, there's another major headache..." "What is it?" "I can't move King Wen's former residence!" Su Yu explained, "If I can't move it, the Human Lord Seal becomes unusable. Even if I step down as the Human Lord, I still need to reclaim the seal—turning it into a Dead Spirit Seal works too! What's more, I still command a large portion of humanity! Also, if I don't move it, how would Fat Ball come with us? "Only by opening a Dao—no matter how small or weak it is—can I move King Wen's former residence. I can place it at the intersection first, and if not there, then inside my Great Dao, where it can also help suppress my unstable Dao... It's the perfect way to bring Fat Ball and the others along!" Wan Tiansheng sighed in admiration, "Are you planning to empty out King Wen's home?" "Did I?" Su Yu grinned. "I didn't touch his things; I'm merely changing their location!" Dropping the subject, Su Yu quickly led the two out of the realm, vanishing in the blink of an eye. He needed to gather more people to help him research the theories of fusing Daos. And then, get to work! ... Meanwhile. At Soul Burying Mountain. Baizhan halted his steps and chuckled softly. "Let's wait. It will take a little time." Behind him, Marquis Yunshui asked softly, "What does Your Majesty mean?" "Wait for him to make a decision—whether to leave, stay, or... compete with me in a duel." The Hundred Battles King smiled faintly. "From what you've described, I can tell that this Su Yu will likely be unwilling to stand alongside me... Regardless of whether his previous defeat was real or feigned, since you did not heed his words, he might... have deduced something as well." Beside them, Marquis Nanxi said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, if... we do not return right now, what if he... gives up and trashes everything out of spite?" "It doesn't matter," the Hundred Battles King replied with an easy smile. "If he truly does so, we will simply start over!" With that, he sat down cross-legged, gazing toward that faintly visible opening, and said with a light smile, "It has been six thousand years since I left the Lower Realm. I wonder if it has changed drastically..." Marquis Yunshui nodded. "The changes are quite significant, but it is reasonably thriving. By the way, Your Majesty said he would leave—where could he go?" "Where?" The Hundred Battles King chuckled. "The dead spirit realm, the boundless void—he has plenty of choices!" "What if he doesn't leave?" "Doesn't leave?" The Hundred Battles King pondered for a moment and smiled again. "He won't stay. According to you, he is a smart man. In that case... meeting me without being willing to submit leaves only battle, and right now, he is no match for me." "Then has Your Majesty... not thought of..." Marquis Yunshui hesitated. The Hundred Battles King waved his hand slightly: "No need! Now is not the time. With formidable enemies on our flanks, why make a spectacle of ourselves for others to mock?" Baizhan laughed heartily. "Moreover, whether I am the Human Lord or not is of no real importance to me!" Having said that, he turned to glance toward Chaos Mountain, pausing for a long moment before saying, "Once we descend, keep a low profile and maintain the status quo! The Prison King's lineage and the myriad races haven't clashed yet, and we also need time to recover and build our strength!" The others nodded slightly. Just as Marquis Nanxi was about to say more, suddenly, in the Chaos Mountain region, a gigantic axe spanned the sky! A figure soared through the air, cleaving a massive mountain in two with a single swing! "Traitors of the Prison King's lineage, come out! Your grandpa is here to slaughter you all!" Boom! The gigantic axe swept across the sky, leveling giant mountains in its wake. The Hundred Battles King looked in that direction and smiled. "Great Axe has emerged. It seems the turmoil of the Upper Realm might begin with Great Axe!" Marquis Nanxi frowned slightly. "Great Axe is reckless. Charging straight in like that, if he gets surrounded and attacked by the Prison King's lineage, I fear..." "The myriad races won't allow Great Axe to fall easily. This isn't the past; today, the greatest enemy of the myriad races is the Prison King's lineage!" With that, the Hundred Battles King closed his eyes. "No need to worry about it. Great Axe won't die so easily, and the Prison King's lineage won't strike him lightly either, lest they give the myriad races an opening to exploit!" The others said nothing more. Since His Majesty had said so, there was surely reason behind it.